MENA Fellowship (2024)

Join the movement for impact across the Middle East and North Africa through the MENA Fellowship. This program features two dynamic residencies, AWS cloud credits, mentorship, and a $5,000 USD stipend. Harness the power of cross-regional collaboration as you build the future of Health, Climate, and EquityTech.

Sectors

Climate

Solutions addressing climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience including but not limited to:

  • Renewable Energy Generation and Storage 
  • Green Building Technologies
  • Climate Data and Analytics
  • Climate Smart Agriculture and Food Systems
  • WaterTech

Health

Solutions leveraging technology to reduce barriers to quality, affordable healthcare and to improve physical and mental healthcare outcomes. Subsectors include but are not limited to:

  • Telemedicine, Remote Patient Monitoring, and Digital Therapeutics 
  • Healthcare Operations
  • Health Data Analytics and AI 
  • MedTech
  • FemTech
  • Preventative Medicine
  • Health Finance
  • AgeTech/Longevity Tech

Equitytech

Solutions leveraging technology to increase social and financial inclusion and closing equity gaps in wealth, education, and accessibility. Subsectors include but are not limited to:

  • FinTech 
  • Future of Work  
  • Assistive Tech 
  • EdTech

Program Structure

  • Cohort of up to 10 ventures from across the MENA Region receive training in Halcyon’s methodology on business fundamentals, leadership, investment readiness, and impact
  • Program is delivered in hybrid modality with participants engaging in both virtual and in-person sessions:
    • 1 Virtual Program Kickoff Meeting 
    • 4 Virtual Program Meeting Days
    • 1 week in-person residency in Washington, DC 
    • 1 week in-person residency in the MENA Region

Eligibility

We’re looking for (for-profit) startups that are building scalable solutions that are tackling challenges related to Health, Climate, or EquityTech in the Middle East & North Africa. 

  • Location: Must have operations in Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates (UAE), or Yemen
  • Stage: Must have a Minimum Viable Product that has the potential to scale 
  • Team: 
    • May apply with up to one co-founder
    • Applicant must be the CEO and/or hold primary decision-making power
    • Must be fluent in English
    • Must be at least 21 years of age by the start of the program
  • Program Engagement: Must be able to participate in all activities and programming sessions 
  • Impact: Must be developing a product and venture which contributes towards 1 or more of the UN’s 17 SDGs

In addition to eligibility, Halcyon scores each application based on 4 criteria: Impact, Scalability, Innovation, and Talent.

Selection Criteria

Impact

To what extent will the solution, if scaled, have a meaningful impact on society and/or the environment?

Scalability

Could this venture scale to reach hundreds of thousands or millions of users in a 5-10 year time horizon?

Innovation

Is the solution a novel approach to tackling the issue in their context?

Talent

Is the team uniquely qualified to tackle the challenges they’ve identified?